This invention relates to a grip to be applied to a handle or shaft and relates in one aspect, though not exclusively, to a grip for an article of sporting equipment.
The invention particularly relates to a grip which employs a strip of material to be wound around the handle or shaft in an overlapping manner, as the outer component of the grip. Such grips will hereinafter be referred to as xe2x80x9cwound gripsxe2x80x9d.
Wound grips have been known and used on handles and shafts, especially on sporting equipment, for many years and as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art it is necessary to secure at least one, and preferably both ends of a wound grip to prevent the grip from pealing from one or both ends and eventually unwrapping.
It is an object of the invention to provide a construction of wound grip which may be readily applied to a handle or shaft, which includes means for securing one end, or alternatively both ends. of the strip material used as the outer component of the wound grip.
According to the invention there is provided a grip for a handle or shaft, said grip including a core means adapted to be fitted to said handle or shaft and a strip of material to form the outer surface of said grip, to be wound around said handle or shaft and/or said core to provide, in use, a wound grip; said core means having a first end, a second end and a body therebetween, and having a peripheral flange at said second end in the form of a skirt, said strip to be wound on said handle or shaft and/or said core means; said peripheral flange adapted, in use, to be flexed over said wound strip to prevent unwinding of said strip from said handle or shaft and/or said core means.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the core means is positioned over said handle or shaft in the area where the grip is to be applied.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention the core means, other than the end carrying said peripheral flange, is positioned within the handle or shaft.
In a further preferred embodiment of the invention the core means positioned over the handle or shaft is provided at its first end with an enlarged collar, against which said strip of material is abutted while commencing winding, thereof on said core means.
In a still further preferred embodiment of the invention the core means is formed of resilient material so as to be readily applied over a handle or shaft and also to provide a xe2x80x9csoftxe2x80x9d component to the feel of the finished grip.
The invention also provides a method of forming a grip on a handle or shaft which includes the steps of:
(i) positioning a core means on or partly in a handle or shaft in the area where a grip is required; said core means having a first end, a second end and a body therebetween, and having a peripheral flange at said second end in the form of a skirt;
(ii) winding a strip of material in an overlapping manner over said handle or shaft and/or said core means, towards said second end;
(iii) flexing said skirt so that it is positioned over said wound strip of material, to hold said strip of material against said handle or shaft and/or said core means and prevent unwinding thereof.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that an adhesive material may be provided on the underside of the strip material so that the strip material is to some extent adhered to the core or the handle or shaft as it is wound thereupon.
For a full understanding of the present invention, reference should now be made to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.